Uganda: catch all

[SWJED]

25 July Washington Post commentary - The Price Of Peace In Uganda by Michael Gerson.

Across Sudan, northern Uganda and eastern Congo, many have lived in the shadow of violence for decades. A brutal few are loyal to the darkness...

Many of the boys in the settlement had been kidnapped by the LRA and trained as soldiers -- forced, I was told, to do "terrible things" such as murdering neighbors in their home villages so the boys could never return. One of the former child soldiers I met was about 16. When the leader of the LRA, a messianic madman named Joseph Kony, visited his prisoners, all were forced to prostrate themselves -- but this young man looked up in curiosity, and one of his eyes was gouged out.

The man he briefly glimpsed is a cunning thug with a touch of insanity -- a man, in Joseph Conrad's phrase, of "gratified and monstrous passions." Kony takes kidnapped sex slaves for wives, is prone to trances and visions, and claims he can turn bullets into water. His proven skill is turning children into killers, who intimidate villagers by cutting off lips, ears and noses.

But Kony's forces, under military pressure, have retreated to the remoteness of the Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Northern Uganda has experienced a year of relative peace, and many displaced villagers are returning to their homes. With African mediation, Uganda and the LRA are engaged in peace talks that have reported incremental progress. Kony has a history of sabotaging talks with unreasonable demands, but there is hope that a cornered LRA might eventually take a deal and lay down its arms...

[Tom Odom]

Second, the military pressure must continue. Garamba Park may sound like a destination for adventure tourism. It is actually a haven for some of the worst killers on Earth -- first the Hutu authors of the Rwandan genocide and now the LRA. LRA forces are planting crops and digging for resources. There are rumors that they may be rearming, with supplies coming by air from Eritrea or their traditional allies in Khartoum. And the more secure and confident the LRA becomes, the less likely it is to disband.

If ever the Air Force wanted a target for "COIN" this would be my nomination--but only if they used napalm, white phosporus, and a series of MOABs to blow out the fires when they were done. The LRA as well as the Hutu militias have only one proper place in this world: fertilizer.

Tom

[Tom Odom]

From the horse's mouth, Yoweri Museveni on Uganda the Strategy of Protracted Peoples War. It is interesting as Paul Kagame and some other folks I know were part of all of this and Museveni succeeded because of that role.

Uganda the Strategy of Protracted Peoples War.
The genesis of my coming here was a few months ago. I had come
here to attend the graduation of my son, who was a student here. now,
Lieutenant General Caldwell invited me for lunch. When we were having
lunch, the audience around the table—the American audience—were very
curious about Uganda’s history. Then I said, “By the way, if you are interested, I could come back to Leavenworth when I come back for the United Nations General Assembly,” because i normally come to the United Nations—not always to do so much useful work there—but to put in an appearance for whatever it is worth. Now since I come all the way to do not so useful work in the United Nations, I told the general that I could come two more hours here and i would come and share Uganda’s history with you.

[Rex Brynen]

Uganda 'strikes LRA rebel camps'
BBC News, Sunday, 21 December 2008

The Ugandan government says it has destroyed more than 70% of camps run by Lord's Resistance Army rebels in a remote region of northern DR Congo.

A joint offensive was launched by Ugandan, Southern Sudanese and Congolese forces against the rebels in mid-December, after peace talks failed.

Looks like Tom got some of his wish on the use of COIN airpower too:

The BBC's Martin Plaut says that as jets went overhead to bomb the LRA camps, local people in the Congolese town of Duru came out and cheered.

[Tom Odom]

Looks like Tom got some of his wish on the use of COIN airpower too:

Get some!

[davidbfpo]

The Economist takes a broader view, with a sting at the end: http://www.economist.com/world/midea...=hptextfeature

Personally action against the LRA is long overdue, so press on. There was a dreadful BBC documentary on the impact on children in Northern Uganada, possibly a year plus ago.

davidbfpo

[Tom Odom]

Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, promised direct talks with Mr Kony last week, even as he signed off on military action to kill him.

he is following one of my own lessons learned from Rwanda

8. Keep talking to your enemies until you have to kill them. They might be civilians at heart.

[tequila]

ICG emphasizes the fractured nature of the LRA as well as its increasingly Sudanese "membership" due to its extended sojourn there after being largely expelled from northern Uganda. Also emphasizes how Kony is becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Northern Uganda: The Road to Peace With or Without Kony

[Harry Phillips]

From the BBC...other media outlets reporting on this as well. H.


"Uganda's army has accused the Lord's Resistance Army rebels of hacking to death 45 civilians in a Catholic church in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Capt Chris Magezi said the scene was "horrendous... dead bodies of mostly women and children cut in pieces". The attack happened on 26 December. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7802804.stm

Also see: Night Commuters http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/h...ers/html/1.stm

[davidbfpo]

Alas a report that the LRA survive to kill another day: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...-DR-Congo.html

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

The Washington Post has this: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/art..._murderer.html

Michael Gerson, the author, has written before on the LRA. No substantial new details on the recent operation, although note the bad weather factor, but IMHO gives the LRA issue a wider hearing.

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

An article that comments on many aspects of US policy in Africa, especially AFRICOM's support for Ugandan action against the Lord's Resistance Army (so appears in the AFRICOM thread too): http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/stevecoll/

davidbfpo

[AdamG]

Ugandan police say bomb attacks killed at least 40 people late Sunday at two sites in the capital, Kampala, where people were gathered to watch the World Cup.

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news...-98207324.html

[Kevin23]

64 people(including an American) mainly in bars, and restaurants in Uganda's capital of Kampala on Sunday. The main suspect thus far is the Al-Shabab of Somalia, who are believed by Ugandan authorities to have targeted the country due to Uganda's presence in the peacekeeping operation in Somalia

Here is the link,

http://www.aolnews.com/world/article...ganda/19549841

[carl]

Bombs went off in Kampala targeting people watching the World Cup at two establishments. AP reports 64 killed.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

I guess this will focus more of our attention on Africa. Very sad.

[AdamG]

For some backstory, see also
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...9&postcount=12
and subsequent posts.

[Rex Brynen]

Originally Posted by Kevin23

The main suspect thus far is the Al-Shabab of Somalia, who are believed by Ugandan authorities to have targeted the country due to Uganda's presence in the peacekeeping operation in Somalia

...nor, of course, is there much "peace" to keep in Somalia. AMISOM has often been involved in combat operations, and without it there would be little chance that the Somali Transitional Federal Government could retain control over its little slice of Mogadishu.

The Ugandan contingent (c2,700) has lost more than two dozen killed since 2007, as has the similar-sized contingent from Burundi--a higher rate of loss than that of US/ISAF forces in Afghanistan.

[Kevin23]

Originally Posted by Rex Brynen

...nor, of course, is there much "peace" to keep in Somalia. AMISOM has often been involved in combat operations, and without it there would be little chance that the Somali Transitional Federal Government could retain control over its little slice of Mogadishu.

The Ugandan contingent (c2,700) has lost more than two dozen killed since 2007, as has the similar-sized contingent from Burundi--a higher rate of loss than that of US/ISAF forces in Afghanistan.

Hmmm,

I wonder if this action by Al-Shabab in Uganda and any potential ensuing acts in the country or in participating AMISOM nations, will eventually force governments like that of Uganda to withdraw what forces they have from participation in the mission?

[Rex Brynen]

Originally Posted by Kevin23

I wonder if this action by Al-Shabab in Uganda and any potential ensuing acts in the country or in participating AMISOM nations, will eventually force governments like that of Uganda to withdraw what forces they have from participation in the mission?

I suspect that the bigger factor will be the situation in Mogadishu, where the fighting has been fairly intense in recent days.

IGAD has pledged 2,000 more troops for AMISOM, although it isn't clear who will provide them. Interestingly, the Ugandans have been asking for a relaxation in the RoE so that they can go after al-Shabaab more assertively.

If the Ugandans feel, however, that AMISOM (and the TFG) are a lost cause, and that they're fighting and dying for no discernable reason, that might cause them to reconsider the mission.

Of course, the key Ugandan role in AMISOM explains why they might have been a target for the bombings (with the caveat that one should never automatically believe immediate claims of responsibility for these things).


Pic: Ugandan forces, AMISOM

[M-A Lagrange]

Rex,

The question is who if the african are not doing the job?

That's all the strategy now. African powers want to show they are capable to take care of Africa and Western powers do not want to get directly involved.
So either we leave the place to China....
Or we train guys to do the job. The last question being: what do we do with them once the job is done...